Fort Lauderdale: 97 out of 100, according to walkscore.com Jacksonville: 88 out of 100, according to walkscore.com

City Land Area

Fort Lauderdale: 31.7 square milesJacksonville: 757.7 square miles

About Fort Lauderdale

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Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County.

The city is a popular tourist destination, with 10.35 million visitors in 2006. Fort Lauderdale is sometimes known as the "Venice of America" because of its expansive and intricate canal system. The city is a major yachting center, with 42,000 resident yachts and 100 marinas and boatyards in 2006. The city sits 23 miles north of Miami, Florida. Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding area host over 4,000 restaurants and 120 nightclubs in 2006.

Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale, who was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend, in what is now known as the Sailboat Bend neighborhood, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

Las Olas Boulevard is a popular thoroughfare in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States that runs from Andrews Avenue in the Central Business District to A1A and Fort Lauderdale Beach. The easternmost section of the boulevard is interlaced with canals and waterfront homes. The commercial stretch, approximately 1-mile in length, features cool sub-tropical breezeways and courtyards alive with bars, nightclubs, bridal stores, shops, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants and hotels. The name "Las Olas" means "The Waves" in Spanish.

Las Olas has its own historic house, a museum of art, a nearby IMAX cinema and an art house movie theater within a short walk. Las Olas Boulevard can be accessed by the Fort Lauderdale water taxi. The boulevard is a popular attraction for locals and visitors, being ideally situated close to Fort Lauderdale beach, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades. It is known as a dining and shopping destination.

In the early 1980s Las Olas went through a major renovation program to enhance property values. The land was worth much more than that of the standing homes. It was decided that anyone who wished to buy property on one of the isles would have to tear down the existing home and build a home of equal or greater value than the land. There were a few celebrities that already lived on Las Olas, but new homes and waterfronts made it more appealing to move to the area. Professional tour companies provide tours that take people down the waterways to show off the celebrities homes and yachts.

A few of the most notable are:

Johnny Weissmuller, noted as an actor who played Tarzan and invented the signature yell.

Wayne Huizenga, noted as the ceo of Waste Management, Inc and Blockbuster Video.

David L Cook, noted as a Christian music star and entrepreneur.

Connie Francis, noted as an actress and movie star who was featured in the movie, Where the Boys Are which was filmed on Las Olas Blvd at the famed Elbo Room.

Dan Quayle, noted as the former Vice-President of the United States of America.

Lee Majors, noted actor who played The Six Million Dollar Man and former husband to Farrah Fawcett.

Sonny and Cher, noted singers and actors.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, noted television and movie stars. Stars of I Love Lucy fame.

The Wave, a new 2.7 mile electric streetcar system costing $125 million, is being planned for the downtown. Most of the construction funding will come from federal ($62.5 million), state ($37 million) and city taxpayers ($10.5 million), with approximately $15 million from assessments on properties located within the Downtown Development Authority. Broward County (BCT) has committed to operating the system for the first 10 years at an expected annual cost of $2 million, and has guaranteed funding to cover any shortfall in ridership revenues.[74] The construction cost of $50 million per mile is considerably higher than other recently-built streetcar projects, in part due to the challenges of building a electric transit system over the 3rd Avenue drawbridge.

The New River Tunnel is one of three underwater road tunnels in Florida (the other two are in Walt Disney World), that replaced the Federal Aid Highway Bridge, a drawbridge opened on August 26, 1926 and closed in 1958. It carries U.S. Route 1 underneath the New River and Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The tunnel was built after a lengthy debate on whether to construct another bridge or a tunnel. The old drawbridge operated so slowly that it sometimes took motorists 45 minutes to cross from one end of the bridge to the other, creating massive traffic jams in the heart of the city.

In 1986 it was renamed in honor of Henry E. Kinney, who had advocated its construction while he was chief of the Fort Lauderdale/Broward Edition of the Miami Herald.